Last January the Dell XPS 13 developer edition (9370) made its debut. Today we’re excited to announce that one year later its successor, the XPS 13 developer edition (9380), is now available in the US, Canada and Europe. (Note: both the 9370 and 9380 will coexist for a period of time.)

Project Sputnik

The 9380 represents the eighth generation of Dell’s Ubuntu-based XPS 13 developer edition series. The first generation of the developer edition debuted over six years ago and it, along with the Ubuntu-based Precision mobile workstations that launched in 2015, make up Project Sputnik. In case you’re not familiar with it, Project Sputnik is Dell’s skunkworks initiative driven by input from the developer community (see the timeline at the end of the post for the complete XPS 13 developer edition progression).

Although there are many great features and specs that characterize the latest developer edition (see below), the one that will likely bring the most joy is the new placement of the webcam. In the 9370 the camera is located directly below the screen. In the new 9380 the camera has been moved to the top, providing a much more flattering view of the user while still maintaining the system’s sleek, compact design.

Not only that but the 8th generation developer edition supports Suspend-to-idle natively which allows the system to resume much more quickly from sleep.

The United States and Canada

In the US and Canada there are four base configs that can be configured in a multitude of ways, yielding 22 configurations. These base configs are:

i7 QC|8GB|256GB|FHD T

i7 QC|8GB|256GB|UHD T

i7 QC|16GB|512GB|UHD T

i7 QC|16GB|256GB|UHD T

(Note: unlike Europe, in the United States and Canada the developer edition can only be purchased in the “For Work” section.)

Europe

Beating the US and Canada to the punch, on January 9th the first configurations of the new XPS 13 developer edition became available in Europe. At the end of last week two more joined to complete the lineup:

i7 QC|16GB|512GB|UHD T

i7 QC|16GB|1TB|UHD T

i7 QC|8GB|256GB|FHD NT

i7 QC|16GB|512GB|FHD NT

The above configurations are available in both the “For Home” and “For Work” sections on Dell.com and are available online in the following countries:

Austria

Belgium (Dutch and French)

Switzerland (German and French)

Germany

Denmark

Spain

France

Ireland

Italy

The Netherlands

Norway

Sweden

The United Kingdom <- The developer editions will be added to shortly to the 9380 product page. Until then, the systems can be purchased via chat on the product page or by calling the number that pops up.

Stay tuned

Being able to announce the next generation of the XPS 13 developer edition is a great way to begin the year. Watch this space to see what is next on the agenda for 2019.

The Precision 7530 and 7730 mobile workstations, built for even more compute-intensive workloads, will be offered with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS soon.

How did we get here: A quick look back

It all started back on November 15, 2013 when the Precision M3800 mobile workstation unofficially joined Project Sputnik. This came about thanks to the efforts of Dell Linux architect Jared Dominguez. Ever since Sputnik launched there was a group of customers who were asking for a beefier system beyond the original XPS 13 developer edition. With this in mind, Jared got his hands on an M3800 and put together a rough set of instructions explaining how to get Ubuntu up and running on the system. Rather than satiating folks however, Jared’s instructions only made the customers’ hungrier for an officially available, workstation-class system. On January 27, 2015 that request was answered and the Precision M3800 joined the XPS 13 as a part of the Project Sputnik portfolio.

15-inch fully customizable and high-performance mobile workstation at an entry-level price point

8th Gen Intel® Core™ and next-generation Xeon® processors

Memory speeds up to 2666MHz up to 32GB

PCIe storage capacity up to 2TB

NVIDIA Quadro® P600 professional graphics cards with 4GB of memory

Support for 4K video to an external monitor at 60fps via HDMI 2.0

Ports include HDMI 2.0, Thunderbolt and VGA

Available worldwide

Closing out 2018

2018 has been a particularly busy one for Project Sputnik. The year had barely begun when the 7th generation XPS 13 developer edition debuted. In Spring the 16.04-based Precision xx30 mobile line began rolling out and in mid-summer the XPS 13 was upgraded from 16.04 to 18.04. With today’s news we’re closing out the year with an upgrade of the Precision mobile line.

Looking forward, as of 2019, Dell has been shipping Linux preloaded on client systems for 20 years. We’ll be making some noise around that and we have a bunch of other things up our sleeves as well.

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Six years ago today the first Project Sputnik system appeared on dell.com.

It all started at the beginning of 2012 with a pitch to an internal innovation committee. A month after the pitch, on the ides of March, the committee gave the go ahead for an exploratory project to test out the idea of a developer laptop.

The original XPS 13 developer edition

Thanks to the interest and support of the community, eight months later, the project became a product.

On November 29, 2012 the Dell XPS 13 developer edition was born.

It takes a village

Beyond the developer community, the reason why Project Sputnik is alive and thriving today is because of the support, both official and unofficial, from dozens of people across Dell.

These individuals have come from marketing, engineering, sales, finance, PR, operations… Here are some of the key contributors over the last six years

Xiao Liang, Wendy, Abby, Lihua, David, Zorro

Aidan

Amber Huang

Amit

Barton George

Brett

Cami Collins

Casey Downing

Chris D

Chris W

Clement

Damon

Derek

Eric

Erin

Frank

Geoff Dunlap

James Jones

Jared Dominguez

Jason

John

Jon

Johnathon Boyd

Juan Martinez

Justin X

Kerry

Lester

Luke Presley

Mano

Mario

Matt

Melissa

Munira

Ray

Ryan

Peter

Sandra

Sarah

Theresa Thomas

Justin Cowan

Eoin

Lauren

Marek

Meg (Mei Kuen, Tusi)

Michal

Patrick Griffin

Randall

Shawn Burton

From then to now

With help from the folks above, Project Sputnik has continued to evolve.

The XPS 13 developer edition, which debuted with only one config and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, is now in its 7th generation, comes with Ubuntu 18.04 and boasts multiple configurations. Along the way the project also expanded when the Linux-based mobile Precision workstation line joined the effort.

This year was a particularly busy one for the project with new versions of all five Sputnik platforms launching:

As mentioned above The Precision 5530 mobile workstation, developer edition is certified for RHEL 7.5 and the needed drivers will be included in the distro. That being said, the NVIDIA drivers that come with 7.5 are inbox drivers. We will be posting drivers for all graphic cards that will include professional features not included in the inbox drivers. Stay tuned

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When project Sputnik debuted over five years ago, we launched with one config of our XPS 13 developer edition and it came with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

Today, thanks to the interest and support of the community, we are announcing that in the US our seventh generation XPS 13 developer edition now comes with Ubuntu 18.04. Europe and Canada will soon be following suit.

What’s an LTS

In case you’re not familiar with it, LTS stands for “Long Term Support” and a new LTS release comes out every two years. Ubuntu’s LTS releases are supported and receive updates for five years, versus nine months for the interim releases. It is the LTS releases that Dell certifies and preloads on our Ubuntu-based systems.

That was then, this is now

Project Sputnik’s first system debuted at the end of November in 2012 and, as mentioned above, it came with Ubuntu 12.04 preloaded.

The HUD in 12.04 — image from webupd8.org

Back then there was only one configuration of the XPS 13 developer edition and it boasted: 8GB RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 1,280 x 720 display.

On the OS side, Ubuntu 12.04 introduced the HUD “a revolutionary new way of interacting with application menus on the desktop.” 12.04 was also the release when people started to see the value of Ubuntu’s default user interface, Unity.

Fast forward to today

The XPS 13 developer edition is now in its seventh generation with 13 configurations. The top of the line developer edition comes with 16GB RAM, a 1TB SSD and a UHD (3,840 x 2,160) display. The big news of Ubuntu’s 18.04 LTS is the removal of Unity and the return of the GNOME desktop.

There is also a new “Minimum Install” option which excludes extras such as music players, office suites etc. In its place you get a slimmed down version comprised of GNOME, a web browser, a terminal and basic apps.

Looking forward

Speaking of systems, right around the corner is the new Precision 5530 mobile workstation, developer edition. Stay tuned

And if we look further on the horizon you can just make out Sputnik’s LTS number five, 20.04 😊

Note: to get to the Ubuntu option, hit “more” in the Operating System section.

These new thinner, lighter, premium-built Precision mobile workstations come preloaded with Ubuntu and have been RHEL certified. The 7530 and 7730 feature the latest Intel Core and Xeon processors, blazing-fast memory and professional graphics.

Of particular note is the increased core count and memory. In fact the maximum memory has doubled to 128GB which helps with cloud developer local workloads. In the case of the 7730, it supports up to 8TB of PCIe NVME storage, the most PCIe storage on the market today. The 7730 is also the first AI/ML ready mobile workstation available.

A double click on the specs

Although the following information was in the previous blog, I wanted to include it here so that you had all the info in one place.

Dell Precision 7530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

The world’s most powerful 15″ mobile workstation, redesigned to be thinner, lighter

Largest & fastest memory on the market for mobile workstations up to 128GB of system memory & SuperSpeed memory of 3200MHz

Largest PCIe SSD storage capacity available for a 15-inch mobile workstation: up to 6TB

Single cable docking and Thunderbolt™ 3 connectivity

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled

RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)

Available worldwide

Dell Precision 7730 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

The world’s most powerful 17″ mobile workstation, redesigned to be thinner, lighter

AI developer platform

8thGen Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processors

AMD Radeon Pro WX and NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics

Largest & fastest memory on the market for mobile workstations up to 128GB of system memory & SuperSpeed memory of 3200MHz

Largest PCIe storage capacity available for a mobile workstation (up to 8TB)

Single cable docking and Thunderbolt™ 3 connectivity

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled

RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)

Available worldwide

RHEL 7.5 certification and drivers

As mentioned above, these systems will be certified for RHEL 7.5 and the needed drivers will be included in the distro. That being said, the AMD and NVIDIA drivers that come with 7.5 are inbox drivers. We will be posting drivers for both graphic cards that will include professional features not included in the inbox drivers. Stay tuned!

Today I’m proud to announce the new the Linux-based Dell Precision Mobile workstation line: the 3530, 5530, 7530 and the 7730. These systems, which represent the fourth generation of the Precision developer editions, come preloaded with Ubuntu and have been RHEL certified.

Available in Platinum Silver or Brushed Onyx, with a 15.6-inch display fit into a 14-inch chassis.

Next-gen graphics up to NVIDIA® Quadro P2000.

8th Gen Intel® Core™ and next-generation Xeon® processors

Enhanced 2666MHz memory speeds up to 32GB

Up to 4TB of SSD storage

USB Type C with x4 PCIe, Thunderbolt™ and HDMI 2.0 ports

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled

RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)

Available worldwide

Dell Precision 7530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

The world’s most powerful 15″ mobile workstation, redesigned to be thinner, lighter

8th Gen Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processors

AMD Radeon WX and NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics

Largest & fastest memory on the market for mobile workstations up to 128GB of system memory & SuperSpeed memory of 3200MHz

Largest PCIe SSD storage capacity available for a 15-inch mobile workstation: up to 6TB

Single cable docking and Thunderbolt™ 3 connectivity

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled

RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)

Available worldwide

Dell Precision 7730 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

The world’s most powerful 17″ mobile workstation, redesigned to be thinner, lighter

8th Gen Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processors

AMD Radeon WX and NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics

Largest & fastest memory on the market for mobile workstations up to 128GB of system memory & SuperSpeed memory of 3200MHz

Largest storage capacity available for a mobile workstation (up to 8TB)

Single cable docking and Thunderbolt™ 3 connectivity

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled

RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)

Available worldwide

RHEL 7.5 certification and drivers

As mentioned above, all four developer editions will be certified for RHEL 7.5 and the needed drivers will be included in the distro. That being said, the AMD and NVIDIA drivers that come with 7.5 are inbox drivers. We will be posting drivers for both graphic cards that will include professional features not included in the inbox drivers. Stay tuned!

How did we get here?

Project Sputnik launched at the end of 2012 with the svelte XPS 13 developer edition. While this fit the bill for a lot of folks, there was a set of folks who needed something beefier. The demand stayed steady so Sputnik team member Jared Dominguez decided to take it upon himself to get Ubuntu up and running on the Precision M3800.

Jared hammock hacking

From this he created step-by-step instructions and posted them to Dell Tech Center for community members to follow.

While customers were excited to be able get Ubuntu going on their systems, they wanted more. Given this sustained demand, in early in 2015 the M3800 developer edition became an official product.

In Spring of the following year our Linux-based Precision offering went from one system to four and the 5510, 3510, 7510 and 7710 developer editions debuted. Last year this line was revved and the next gen, the 5520, 3520, 7520, 7720 were announced along with the addition of the Precision 5720 All-in-One. And today… (see above)

Stay tuned

Watch this space for the upcoming availability of the Dell Precision 5530, 7530 and 7730 developer editions as well as the AMD and NVIDIA graphics drivers for RHEL 7.5 .

Extra-credit reading

The History of the Ubuntu-based Dell Precision mobile workstation line

November 15, 2013 — Instructions posted to get Ubuntu up and running on a Precision M3800 mobile workstation